Digital content and the contract of sale : critical analysis of the proposed amendment to art. 555 of the civil code

Implementation of the directive 2011/83/EC on consumer rights into Polish law involved entrenching in domestic law a very controversial idea of extending the scope of the contract of sale to the so called ‘digital content’. The idea has since been discarded but the problem it was supposed to address, i.e. the need to adapt civil law to the changing technological circumstances and the fact that more and more often contracts akin to contracts of sale apply in fact to digital and immaterial subject-matter remains. The article discusses the planned yet since withdrawn amendment of art. 555 of the civil code and explains why it is impracticable, if not impossible, for the law to accommodate digital content by simply declaring that the provisions on sale should apply to it accordingly. Such a deceivingly facile solution would create numerous theoretical and practical difficulties, beginning with the very definition of the subject-matter and covering many other issues such as the problem of remuneration (price), overlaps with intellectual property law (including, but not limited to, copyright), ‘virtual’ property and the interaction with various services usually accompanying ‘digital content’. The article concludes that all these issues are undoubtedly significant and worthy of further analysis, but none of them would actually have been solved by the proposed amendment

MicroRNAs and chronic inflammation contribution to gastrointestinal integrity

Recent studies have revealed that chronic inflammation represents a major basis for different forms of human malignancies. Chronic inflammations are involved in the pathogenesis of 15-25% of human malignancies. Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is one of the most common causes of mortality in the European Union. The mechanisms leading to cancer development and its progression are not completely understood. Advances are required both in early detection and therapy of GI cancers. There are many factors connecting inflammation and cancer. Cytokines that are small protein molecules regulating growth, differentiation, development and immune response mechanisms in cells. Overexpression of cyclooxynenase-2 is associated with decreased apoptosis, cell to cell adhesion, increased proliferation and angiogenesis contributes to the increased immunosuppresion and mediates carcinogenetic effects. MicroRNAs are regarded as a novel class of gene expression regulators. They are gene-silencing RNAs which negatively regulate gene expression. After binding to target mRNAs they lead either to mRNA destruction or inhibition of translation. Hence, they can play an important role in carcinogenesis. Currently, almost all of the miRNA-related studies on cancers based on the different expression profile of miRNAs in cancer cells compared to normal cells. In summary, miRNAs, proinflammatory cytokines and other factors, may be involved in cancer development based on chronic inflammation by controlling cell differentiation and apoptosis. Assessing the role of miRNAs will provide the new insights on their contribution to the link between chronic inflammation and subsequent cancer, and new markers for cancer diagnoses and cancer therapy